Agents of Fantasy - Heroes Who Can Take Down an MLB DFS Tournament - June 14th
TJ Zwarych is one of the top up and coming Daily Fantasy Sports players in the world. Not only is he a long time RotoGrinders member, but he is also the Editor-In-Chief of TV & Film media outlet the Agents of Fandom and host of their podcast. The Agents of Fantasy are a brand new segment where TJ brings his love for Fandom into the Daily Fantasy Sports circle, to help you take down tournaments.
June 14th
For each segment, the Fantastic Four will include my top 4 pitchers for tournaments on FanDuel and DraftKings. At times, they’ll include plays who are picking up ownership if I feel like the rostership still doesn’t reflect their upside. Typically, if there is a cash game lock and someone who is pushing 50% rostered, these pitchers won’t get mentioned. However, sometimes on smaller slates, four pitchers won’t be an option.
The Fantastic Four – Best MLB DFS Picks
Dylan Cease and Gerrit Cole project as by far the most rostered pitchers today, and will be the only ones on a large slate who we will have to worry about as chalk. Of the two, Cease is definitely the one I view as good chalk due to his matchup and strikeout upside, while I’ll look to get underweight on Cole. We’re going to count Cease as part of the top 4 today, as that’s some chalk I plan on eating especially at his cheap DK pricetag. However, there are plenty of other pitchers on the slate with similar ceilings, that aren’t being played nearly as often.
Nick Pivetta 9300 FD / 8900 DK – Pivetta’s greatest weakness is controlling his powers and keeping the ball in the strike zone. Tonight, he faces an impatient and impotent Athletics team. Although Fenway Park is a hitter-friendly stadium, Oakland still grades out as the worst offense in baseball. Pivetta has pitched very well this year, and has the ability with his pitch count to match someone like Gerrit Cole upside, at a hefty price discount with an added benefit of being less played by the field.
Tony Gonsolin 9500 FD / DK – Although you can typically count on Gonsolin to top out at 6 innings, the upside in this spot is undeniable. Tonight, he faces a slumping Angels team with high strikeout rates throughout the order. Although he will likely only throw 90 pitches, Gonsolin has the ability to wrack up double-digit strikeouts in that time frame.
Trevor Rogers 7000 FD / 6300 DK – Rogers is my favorite cheapy today, with high strikeout upside and picking up incredibly low rostership. Although it’s reasonable to be fearful of the Phillies’ power, they also strikeout at an incredibly high clip. Rogers has really struggled with right-handed bats at times this year, however, this has also lowered his price tag and is scaring the field away. This is by no means someone I’m looking to roster in 50% of my lineups tonight, but he remains an interesting option to help pay up for some expensive bats.
Earth’s Mightiest MLB DFS Stacks For Today
We have some crazy hitting weather on tonight’s 15-game slate, with Coors field also on the board. The STL/PIT game isn’t available on FD so we will ignore this one, but Wrigley field is also the home of some phenomenal hitting conditions. With Cleveland and San Diego being heavily played due to weather, we will look elsewhere to find similar upside at less concentrated rostership.
Toronto Blue Jays – Although the Jays will be similarly rostered to the Padres, Braves and Guardians, there are some very interesting ways to play them while getting different. Vladimir Guerrero Jr and George Springer are two of the top options on the slate, with Hernadez coming in as one of the best point-per-dollar options. However, the back half of the order provides a lot of value and power, at a nice rostership discount. Lourdes Gurriel Jr, Santiago Espinal, Alejandro Kirk and Cavan Biggio have all been hitting the ball incredibly well lately, and have helped propel this offense to it’s rightful place as one of the top in the league. From 1 through 9 in the lineup, I’ll be overweight on the Jays.
Boston Red Sox – We have a young pitcher in Fenway park, facing one of the league’s most potent offenses, pitching with his left hand. Insert Boston Red Sox as top stack. Is there much more info needed here? The Red Sox are incredibly dangerous against lefties, as their top bats aren’t the only problems to contend with. The Red Sox have expensive options with cheap high-upside value pieces like Dalbec, Refsnyder and Arroyo to mix into your stacks allowing you to pay up for top-tier pitching. We’re looking for offenses that can match the upside of Coors Field tonight, and the Red Sox have power all throughout the lineup.
Los Angeles Dodgers – Noah Syndergaard is among the league’s worst pitchers for giving up stolen bases, and the Dodgers come with a lot of speed. Mookie Betts and Trea Turner are two of my favorite one-off options on the slate, and the full stack coming in from the late night hammer is incredibly appealing. Especially on FD, the prices are easy to get to throughout the lineup, and this is another team I love playing 1-9 tonight.
New York Yankees – The Bronx Bombers have been living up to their name recently, hitting the ball out of the park left, right and center (mostly right though). Matt Carpenter has awoken, and the short porch in right is helping many of his batted balls that used to be flyouts turn into home runs. Corey Kluber is not the same guy he was with the Yankees and is much easier to attack in 2022. The Rays are outside of their pitcher-friendly stadium, and the Yankees stack up as another team who can reach a high ceiling, not being played as much as our other top options.